Dave Gutierrez wrote: > > In reference to the question submitted about the new > Feathercraft K1's assembly time, I can tell you that I > am able to assemble mine in around 30 minutes. I went over the differences in assembly when I reviewed the new version of the K-1. Normally I don't review a boat when revisions I made but this was so drastic a change that Feathercraft could have validly changed the model's name. Several changes contribute to much faster assembly times. First, the deck material. The change from cordura to what they call poly-tech gives the boat a more stable material that is not subject to shrinkage when dry and looseness when wet. The earlier K-1 was cut on a compromise between these two tendencies and invariably when assembling the boat you confronted a tight skin for inserting the frame and stretching it. The solution was to wet the deck but people did not know that. I found it hardest when demoing the boat indoors, harder to wet down with slopping water over carpets, wooden floors. The next big change was at the bow and stern ends of the frame halves. The earlier boat required working a long pin through a number of holes at the ends of the stringers; an awkward manuever that sometimes took time. Those parts now come pre-connected. The third improvement is in the cockpit area. The old K-1 had a welded rib cage like setup in the middle of the boat. It required your lining up it and the tubes coming from the front and back halves. Often enough, you would jam a tube or two as you were trying this step. That setup has been eliminated in the new one. Lastly, the K-1 has a sharp bow like seen in the Khatsalano. It seems to me that in sliding in the front frame half, the narrower bow area actually improves getting the frame half aligned in...the older, broader bow area sometimes would have the frame half go in askew and jam and then have to be pulled out again and the insertion attempted once more. So, in sum, the old K-1 was always at least a half hour job even when you were good at it (the factory people could do it faster). Now you can realistically get it down to 20 minutes. ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Aug 02 1999 - 06:34:13 PDT
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